Graphical interfaces for computing applications may include selectable objects that can receive input via a touch screen or a mouse. For example, a user may use a mouse click or a touch input to select a data point on a chart in order to see detailed information for the selected data point.
Some display devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers, may render selectable objects with small sizes. Smaller selectable objects may be difficult to select on a touch screen. Prior solutions for addressing this problem may involve drawing invisible selection areas around the selectable objects that can receive touch inputs for the enclosed selectable objects. For example, touch inputs within a given selection radius of a button in a graphical interface may select the button.
Such prior solutions present disadvantages, such as larger selection areas overlapping one another. For example, FIG. 1 is a modeling diagram depicting overlap between different selection areas defined by a fixed selection radius. As depicted in FIG. 1, a graphical interface 100 can include selectable objects 102a-c having selection areas 104a-c respectively defined by boundaries 106a-c. The boundaries 106a-c, which are depicted in FIG. 1 for descriptive purposes, may not be rendered in the graphical interface 100. Each of the boundaries 106a-c may be defined by a fixed selection radius 108. The selection radius 108 may be greater than the distance between two of the selectable objects 102b, 102c. The selection radius 108 being greater than the distance between the selectable objects 102b, 102c may cause an overlap in the selection areas 104b, 104c. The overlap in the selection areas 104b, 104c may prevent or hinder a processor from determining if a touch input to the overlapping area is intended to select the object 102b or the object 102c. The overlap in the selection areas 104b, 104c may also cause a touch input to the overlapping area to select the object 102b rather than the object 102c if the selection area 104b is identified after the selection area 104c is identified.
Other prior solutions may involve using only one of the x or y coordinates of a touch input and selecting a column or row of points or other selectable objects along the x or y coordinate of the touch input. Such solutions may be of limited utility for documents such as scatter plots having selectable points that may not be aligned vertically or horizontally.